Head-to-head: The F1 stars owning their teammates

Every regular driver on the 2017 F1 grid, ranked against their teammate.Source: Getty Images

THE primary aim for any driver on the Formula 1 grid is to beat their teammate: after all, they are the only other person on the grid in the same equipment.

As the paddock enjoys its traditional mid-season break, we’ve crunched the numbers from the first 11 races of the 2017 season.

This is how the head-to-head qualifying and race scorelines look across every team in pit lane.

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Palmer and Hulkenberg.Source: Getty Images

RENAULTNico Hulkenberg vs. Jolyon Palmer

Qualifying: HUL 11-0Racing: HUL 4-2

Unfortunately for the 2014 GP2 champion, this is the least surprising scoreline in 2017.

The Hulk is the only driver to have clean-swept his teammate in qualifying in 2017 and, for that matter, is one of only a handful of drivers to have cracked the Mercedes/Ferrari/Red Bull dominance of the first three rows of the grid.

The future does not bode well for Palmer. Yes, he has had plenty of bad luck this year, but getting outpaced so comprehensively by your teammate is a sure-fire way to shorten your F1 career — especially considering the amount of talented drivers potentially available to fill the seat in 2018.

Stroll and Massa.Source: Getty Images

WILLIAMSFelipe Massa vs. Lance Stroll

Qualifying: MAS 9-1Racing: MAS 5-0

The scoreline is clear-cut at Williams, as might have been expected given the pairing of a seasoned veteran with a fresh-faced rookie.

Along with the 9-1 scoreline in qualifying, the Brazilian has been ahead on all five occasions that both Williams have made the finish. Only cruel mechanical misfortune deprived him of making it 6-0, a podium finish in Azerbaijan going begging given he was ahead of Stroll at the time.

The Baku race holds as Stroll’s best performance so far in 2017. Along with his upset podium finish, he also outqualified Massa at the one circuit where the Brazilian didn’t have a vast bank of experience to draw upon.

Raikkonen and Vettel.Source: Getty Images

FERRARISebastian Vettel vs. Kimi Raikkonen

Qualifying: VET 8-3Racing: VET 9-1

As Daniel Ricciardo told us earlier this year, Sebastian Vettel steps up when he has the scent of success in his nostrils.

Last year’s mediocre Ferrari saw the Finnish favourite outqualify Vettel 11-10. One year on, and armed with a car capable of winning the championship, Vettel now heads Raikkonen 8-3 in the qualifying head-to-heads.

Perez has finally asserted himself in the intra-team battle at Force India, but Nico Hulkenberg had to leave for him to do so.

The Mexican has soundly outqualified and outraged the relatively inexperienced Ocon, still in only his first full year of F1, but the scoreline gives lie to how close the Frenchman has been to his veteran teammate.

Close enough for relations to become tense between the pair after their dispute in Canada and their collision in Azerbaijan.

Alonso and Vandoorne.Source: Getty Images

MCLARENFernando Alonso vs. Stoffel Vandoorne

Qualifying: ALO 8-1Racing: ALO 2-1

It’s a sad indictment on Honda’s performance in 2017 that we have a sample of just three races where both McLarens made it to the finish to run the ruler over.

Alonso comes out ahead 2-1 over his rookie teammate on race day, including his stunning sixth place with the fastest lap in Hungary.

But it’s in qualifying where Alonso has outshone the highly-rated Belgian. Vandoorne has outqualified Alonso just once, although he did so with a mightily impressive lap to make the cut for Q3 at the British Grand Prix.

Ricciardo and Verstappen.Source: Getty Images

RED BULLDaniel Ricciardo vs. Max Verstappen

Qualifying: VES 7-4Racing: RIC 3-2

Verstappen has turned around the one-lap edge Ricciardo held over him in 2016. Last year’s scoreline was 11-6 in Ricciardo’s favour, but the teen has now been the quicker Red Bull on six of the last seven Saturdays.

But come race day it’s Ricciardo who has the advantage.

Although Verstappen has had more than his fair share of mechanical issues, it has been the Australian’s Red Bull passing the chequered flag first more times than not.

Magnussen and Grosjean.Source: Getty Images

HAASRomain Grosjean vs. Kevin Magnussen

Qualifying: GRO 7-4Racing: Tied 3-3

The matchup between two of the most maligned drivers on the grid was always going to be fascinating.

Grosjean has once again pressed his claim for a move back up the grid by making the most of his car when it’s quick: The No. 8 Haas has made it into Q3 on four occasions while the No. 20 car hasn’t cracked it once.

The pair have been much closer matched on race day, but once again Grosjean has scored points in five races to Magnussen’s three.

Ericsson has far more F1 experience than Wehrlein, has more experience with the team than Wehrlein, and had an uninterrupted pre-season. Wehrlein missed the bulk of the testing and the first two races as a result of the neck injury he sustained at the Race of Champions.

Yet it is the Mercedes junior driver who is ahead in both qualifying and racing at the mid-season point. Wehrlein may still be disappointed to have missed out on the seat alongside Hamilton for 2017, but perhaps this season at Sauber will be the making of him?

Sainz and Kvyat.Source: Getty Images

TORO ROSSOCarlos Sainz Jr vs. Daniil Kvyat

Qualifying: SAI 6-5Racing: SAI 5-0

Kvyat’s bad mojo appears to have followed him into a new season. The Toro Rossos have both made it to the finish just five times, and Sainz has been ahead on each occasion.

It’s true the Russian has experienced more than his fair share of mechanical issues, but he has also made his own bad luck on some occasions — most notably at Silverstone when he and Sainz tried to use the same bit of tarmac at Becketts on Lap 1, with the inevitable consequences.

The qualifying scoreline more accurately reflects the Russian’s pace compared to his Spanish teammate — but they don’t hand out championship points on Saturdays.

Hamilton and Bottas.Source: Getty Images

MERCEDESLewis Hamilton vs. Valtteri Bottas

Qualifying: HAM 6-4Racing: Tied 5-5

It’s no wonder Mercedes wants to keep Bottas. The head-to-head numbers show he’s been just as much a match for Hamilton that retired world champion Nico Rosberg was to the same point of the season last year.

The scoreline at last year’s mid-season break was also 6-4 in the Brit’s favour in qualifying, while Hamilton had a one-race advantage over Rosberg — albeit one of those was their last-lap collision in Austria that cost Rosberg the victory.

The similarities don’t end there. 19 points separate the pair in the championship, exactly the same margin that split Hamilton and Rosberg heading into last year’s break.

The key difference is Ferrari’s competitiveness in 2017 — such was Mercedes’ advantage last year that Rosberg only needed to beat Hamilton to win the race. Bottas has also had to deal with both the red cars and the blue ones from Red Bull, hence only two wins for the Finn compared to Rosberg’s five after Hungary in 2016.